“Knox here,” is the modest greeting with which Rear
Admiral Robert W. Knox, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS)
(Ret.) answers his phone. This greeting led to a visit and conversations
with a man whose career spanned 34 years and included 22 years
in the field. Upon meeting Knox, one is struck by his ramrod
straight carriage and his broad shoulders. Nonagenarians aren’t
supposed to look that strong. The broad shoulders helped pack
gear up many a hill for Admiral Knox is one whose heart was
and still is in the field. His favorite working ground was Alaska
where he worked in virgin areas never before surveyed. When
asked about the accomplishment of which he was most proud, he
really couldn’t come up with an answer. Instead he thought
awhile and stated about Alaska “I didn’t enjoy it
everyday in Alaska, but I did enjoy every season.” Here
is a man who made it a career not f or honors, glory, or pay,
but because he truly loved the work.

To put Admiral Knox’s life and career in perspective for
those of us whose career has not overlapped his ( not one active
officer in NOAA Corps was in its predecessor organization prior
to Admiral Knox’s retirement on July 1, 1957 ), he was
born 6 years before the Wright Brothers first flight, he was
a sergeant in the Regular Army during the “War to End
All Wars,” and he was commissioned in the Coast and Geodetic
Survey under E. Lester Jones with Lineal Number 64 on January
30, 1924. This was after spending 6 months as a deck officer
on the old SURVEYOR prior to his being commissioned.

Knox continued on the SURVEYOR, then one of the most modern
survey vessels in the world. The only instruments on the bridge
were a whistle cord, magnetic compass, steering wheel, and spittoon.
Survey methods were the same as those used by Admiral Des Barres,
Captain Cook, and Charles Wilkes – sextant and leadline.
He saw and worked with some of the first electronic echosounders
which were introduced into the C&GS in the mid 1920's. (
Subsignal units and then Dorsey units ). During the radio acoustic
ranging operations ( a rather dangerous forerunner of modern
electronic navigation involving dropping TNT bombs off the stern,
listening for the sound wave at shore stations, and then transmitting
a radio signal to the ship ), he was the only junior officer
on board whom the CO trusted to be the “dynamiter”
during the regular dynamiter’s lunch and dinner breaks.
He has the dubious honor of having what could be the record
for being towed the longest distance in Coast and Geodetic Survey
history. In 1925, he was officer-in-charge of the 60-foot- contract
launch ANNE W working with the old DISCOVERER in the Aleutians.
He and his crew ere towed by the DISCO to Seattle from the Aleutians
in September at the close of operations. The danger of the job
then was real as it is now. He broke a leg during a surf landing
on the Hawaiian Island of Nihau in 1926 and spent the next 2
years recovering while on duty in the Washington, D.C. office.

From 1928 to 1941, Admiral Knox spent most of his career in
the field. Six of these years were spent as Chief-of Party of
a combined operations party, which spent 4 years working in
the Columbia River and approaches and another 2 years in southern
California. In 1939, he received his first major command, the
EXPLORER, and then in 1940-1941 the old SURVEYOR. From late
1941 until 1948 he held many jobs in Washington, D.C., including
Chief, Section of Field Records, Chief, Nautical Chart Branch,
Assistant Chief of Division, and Chief, Aeronautical Chart Branch.
It was time to pack his bag and head back to seas as commanding
officer of the LESTER JONES in 1948, and he then took over as
commanding officer of the PATHFINDER from late 1948 until June
1950. According to Admiral Knox, the best ship he ever sailed
on was the PATHFINDER. Admiral Knox accomplished a remarkable
feat of seamanship with the PATHFINDER in taking it up the uncharted
Nushagak River in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska. He came up
on a rising tide, anchored, and off-loaded a Shoran shore party,
and then returned to Bristol Bay with nary a scratch on his
keel. His boats surveyed the Nushagak that season. The worst
night of his shipboard experience was his last night on the
PATHFINDER when he found himself anchored on the north side
of the Alaska Peninsula with a vicious tidal current and a full
gale combining forces trying to push him up on the rocks. Although
the anchor chain was stretched taut as a fiddle string, the
anchor held and he flew off to Washington, D.C., after being
relieved the next day. This was fortunate for him and the C&GS
as he went on to become Rear Admiral Knox and Assistant Director
the following year. ( For those concerned about promotion opportunities,
Rear Admiral Knox was still a commander after 27 years of commissioned
service in 1951. He went directly from Commander to Rear Admiral
and never held the rank of Captain.)

For a man who earned many honors and held many titles, his home
is devoid of the accoutrements of success in our society such
as plaques, medals, certificates, etc. to enumerate a few of
his accomplishments: (1) numerous scientific articles on diverse
subjects such as sound velocity, magnetic declination, shore
erosion planning, and many mapping and charting articles; (2)
President, Institute of Navigation 1956-1957; (3) President
of the Directing Committee, International Hydrographic Bureau
1957-1962 (i.e., the head of IHB); and (4) the recipient of
an Exceptional Service Award from the Department of Commerce.

The mementos of Rear Admiral Knox’s career that he cherishes
the most are those that come from the men he worked with in
the field. Three items in particular speak about Knox the man:
a beautiful lighthouse made from a brass shaft made by Jim Baker,
an engineer who felt that Admiral Knox had helped him stay out
of jail; a magnificent inscribed hand-drawn map of the Columbia
River entrance showing many of its configurations as shown on
previous historical charts as drawn by Kelly McBean, an artist
whom Knox hired as field surveyor during the depression years;
and the third item being a pair of hand-carved bookends showing
two men packing gear to a difficult station.

Admiral Knox tells a tale on himself in describing these bookends
which strikes to the soul of every Coast Survey and NOAA field
hand there ever was. One of the packers is struggling up a sheer
rock wall while the other has his pack thrown off and is obviously
burned out and panting. In presenting this to Admiral Knox,
Roy Syler said that the one panting and burned out was Knox
and the other was Syler doing “all the work.” These
gifts, given by the men who worked with him and for him, show
Robert Knox to be a humane respected leader– one who was
“fair to the company, far to the men.”

Given Knox’s strong “Old Survey” field orientation,
one might think he would yearn for a return to the “good
old days.” On the contrary, Admiral Knox states emphatically
that if the Corps had not changed and diversified that it would
now be a memory. Diversification, adaptability, and maintenance
of professional credentials are the road to professional and
organizational survival. In fact, Knox welcomes the addition
of fisheries scientists, meteorologists, and other “non-traditional”
groups to the Corps. He feels that the understanding of Ocean-Atmosphere
interaction is one of the biggest challenges facing NOAA now
and in the future. As a side note concerning professional credentials,
Admiral Knox received his first unlimited tonnage Master’s
License in 1924, prior to the birth of most active-duty NOAA
officers. He looks forward to sitting for his thirteenth renewal
( every 5 years ) this next year.

So. Here’s to “Knox here.” May Admiral Knox
and his type be here and with us always. May we be worthy to
follow hin his and the other old-timers footsteps. And by the
way, give him a ring while in the Washington, D.C. area. He’d
be glad to share experiences with you.